Author’s Note: This is an insight gained from actual disconnection from the city life.

There are times when we need to be disconnected from the world. We are too distracted. I really can’t tell whether life out there is better than the city life, I am equally torn. First, there are a lot of things to keep us from being idle here… but I’m not sure whether it is a good thing or not. Second, there’s minimal pollution there… but you rarely see cars. Third, the people there long for Jollibee and Dunkin Donuts… is that a good thing? I guess abundance really ends up in neglect. The more we have, the less we care.

Abundance ends up in neglect. -Dar

Now that’s something new. Although I may have thought of this in passing before, it is only now that I truly realized it. I think the 1-week trip “away from it all” taught me this. The people there seem to care less about nature… while we go to places just to see them for ourselves. And I, for one, hates fast food because I grew tired of them… yet it would be one of the best things that you can bring them as “pasalubong” together with Goldilocks and Dunkin Donuts.

This also goes along with most, if not all, aspects of our lives. Be it with money, love, friends, and the like. Much related to the saying “You never know what you’ve got ’till it’s gone” and with good reason! I’m sure I would not be such a spendthrift and nature-lover if I grew up poorer someplace else. I can not blame the people for not being able to realize the importance of the things and the people we have, because we really have to inhibit ourselves from the same in order to realize them.

For one, I realized the importance of seeing cell sites. In the island of Sibuyan, there are approximately 10 cell sites erected as compared to the hundreds we have. Basing it on land mass, that would be like 1:10 ratio. Bawang there is a great commodity prized at around 80 per kilo while we can get some for 20 per kilo. Their fishes cost five times cheaper and their gas at twenty percent more.

This is the first time that I had such a fruitful trip. I went to Thailand before, but the disparity is not as noticed because of its foreign nature. But going to one of our own provinces and experiencing the life there, one can see how great a gap exists between two islands, literally and figuratively. It was more of an immersion and an eye-opener for me. I met a lot people: the mayor, a vice mayor, a school mentor, the chief of police, and the like. I heard their take on the things I perceived and experienced, and learned a whole lot of stuff! I recommend travelling within the archipelago not only to city people, but to everyone.